Preliminary results of modeling studies on washout of stable and radioactive analogs of 90Sr and 137Cs from snow-covered areas

• Published in: Russian meteorology and hydrology 2007-08, Vol.32 (8), p.508-513
• Main Authors: Vakulovskii, S. M., Novitskii, M. A., Mazurin, N. F., Tertyshnik, E. G., Khachaturova, L. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cesium; Cesium radioisotopes; Meteorology; Runoff; Snow; Snow cover; Snowmelt; Soil surfaces; Soils; Strontium; Strontium radioisotopes; Surface runoff; Washout
• ISSN: 1068-3739; 1934-8096
• DOI: 10.3103/S1068373907080055

Experimental field and laboratory studies on washout of radionuclides from the snow cover during snow melting were carried out in the winter of 2005/06. In the field studies, a specially equipped runoff site was used. In the laboratory conditions, the experiments were conducted using prepared soil monoliths. In the winter of 2006, 25 g/m^sup 2^ of water-free cesium chloride (CsCl) and 25 g/m^sup 3^ of strontium chloride (SrCl^sub 2^) were put onto the snow cover surface of the runoff site. The snow surface of the soil monolith was coated with a ^sup 137^Cs-bearing solution, then with SrCl^sub 2^. Under experimental conditions, practically no surface runoff from the runoff site was recorded. The experiments with the soil monoliths demonstrated that the coefficient of the liquid washout of ^sup 137^Cs normalized to the runoff layer was within 0.9 × 10^sup -6^-1.2 × 10^sup -4^ mm^sup -1^, and that of ^sup 90^Sr normalized to the runoff layer was within 2 × 10^sup -^-1.6 × 10^sup -4^ mm^sup -1^.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]